The Jinchuriki of the Hidden Mountain Pass
by AsculaRiddle
Summary: (I got bored so I rewrote the entire Naruto anime) The chunin exams are strange and important to the village hidden in the mountains, but Nuji could care less. What she desires above all else is to be free. She just wants to be free of the these chains and curse.
1. Chapter 1

_**I'm almost done with Naruto Shippuden and decided to rewrite almost the entire story because I got bored.**_

The rookies in the front were making too much commotion. Everybody was staring, the youngest included. She was small, smaller than everybody else. She was the youngest, perhaps nine or ten. Her blondish hair was long and messy. She wore no headband, unlike everybody else in the room, including her comrades.

The headband her comrades was black with a thinner looking metal. A symbol what looked like a mountain was carved into it.

She watched silently until one of the mysterious sound ninja attacked a man conversing with the rookies. The chain and ball weighing her down was not enough to keep her from crossing the room before her comrades could stop her. She stood in front of the man as his glasses shattered and the glass shattered on the ground.

"There's no need for this, sir. Can we not just settle down?"

She heard murmurs in the room, but she just smiled. Not an evil smile, but an innocent one. Like a child asking her mother for an ice cream cone.

With a flash, the man attacked her as well. To his surprise, she did not fall to her knees and throw up like to last person. There was a sound of splintering, cracking, and, finally, she looked down as shards of glass fell from her eye sockets. While the others stood by, gasping, murmuring, and staring, she pulled out the remainder of her glass eyes. Silently, her smile replaced by a solemn from, she walked to her comrades, pulling a headband from her black cloak and tying it around her head so nobody would see her empty sockets.

The headband was like her comrades, except the metal had a bronze tint around the outside. The symbol was also upside down, since she couldn't actually see it. One of her comrades quickly fixed it.

"Wei shen me?" the eldest, Jiejie, is a girl with bright blond hair braided down her back. The other companion, Gege, was a boy with midnight black hair that was always messy and long-ish. As the three spoke, they used a language they'd made up long ago. This question asked by Jiejie was "why?" as in "why would you do that you brat?"

But Nuli, the youngest participating in the Chunin exams, just gave a smile and rubbed the back of her neck. She felt everybody around them staring, but one person in particular caught her attention. The boy was from the sand she guessed, judging by the smell her gave off.

"Dui bu qui." She said a quick sorry then a loud band and the smell of smoke interrupted her.

The prompter began yelling at them for a moment, but Jiejie was busy fixing Nuli's hair and Gege was just reading a book on ancient temples. Nuli, who had always been a suspicious person, was facing towards the strange desert ninja dudes.

"Ibiki Morino," Nuli whispered as she listened to the sound village ninja get out of trouble through flattery.

He explained to them to turn their paperwork in and get a number.

"A written exam? Well that doesn't seem very fair…" apparently, one of the rookies up front agreed, because she could hear him complain from where she was standing.

"What do you think his name is, Jiejie."

"Don't know, but I think somebody called him 'Naruto' earlier."

Naruto. His hair was yellow and a little messy, but not as bad as Nuji's. He wore an orange and navy blue outfit. It seemed his comrades were a pink haired girl who wore red and a boy who was part of…

"Uchiha."

"What was that Nuji?"

"Nothing."

She could hear the other people in the room who were still staring at her thinking. Thinking silently, but not quiet enough.

" _How does she know that? She's blind!"_

" _Is it some sort of jutsu she uses to see things?"_

" _How is this possible?"_

But there was one voice that was louder than all the others. A boy whose thoughts were more loud than his words.

" _I sense something powerful in her...what is she?"_

Nuji faced the sand village ninja and smiled. She debated what she should do until Jiejie laid her hand over the young girl's shoulder.

" _Go on, it's okay._ "

"Hello." The young girl waved, but the sand village ninja gave her a mere scoff then left to get their numbers.


	2. Chapter 2

2

Nuji was seated close to the front, Jiejie was in the center row, and Gege was back a few rows and over from Jiejie.

Jiejie and Gege hadn't been separated much. They are always together, being siblings and all. They were twins, actually, though Jiejie was about five minutes older. Hehehe. She's not taller or anything. Jiejie is actually a little younger than Gege in many ways. She's childish and enjoys catching butterflies. She hates getting dirty, but, once she's dirty, she loves having mud wars with the other two.

Gege, on the other hand, does not like socializing and doing almost everything the others deem "fun". He was on top of the class, but, then again, the class consisting of only nine students. He's always used his free time to read or study and was considered weird for it, but it didn't matter anyways. He'd always been an outcast, just like his twin and Nuji. But mostly Nuji…

Nuji is different than the other two. Extremely different. She's young, but she keeps the others on top of chores and cleaning in their master's house. She makes sure that Gege has a book to read for every journey, and that Jiejie has plenty of kunai for target practice on pesky flies...And birds…And annoying people. Hehe.

It wasn't that soon that Nuji realized that the problems were impossible.

" _...what's the velocity of...this is impossible!"_

" _How is...does this...no...that guy looks like he's got it, though...perhaps I should copy him?"_

" _Maybe if I...No, that doesn't work either…"_

After only ten minutes, Nuji tracked down two people who seemed to be undercover.

" _It would be funny if one of these kids could read my thoughts and knew that I was actually a chunin and was totally undercover…"_

" _It doesn't look like any of them have figured it out."_

Nuji began tapping her pencil.

 _Tap-tap tap tap-tap tap. Tap tap tap tap. Tap. Tap tap-tap. Tap-tap._

A short pause before she continued.

 _Tap-tap tap tap tap. Tap tap tap-tap. tap-tap._

Another pause.

 _Tap-tap tap tap. Tap-tap tap-tap tap-tap. Tap-tap tap. Tap-tap._

Pause as she shifted slightly. One of the sentries were writing something on their clipboard. She listened, but she could tell it wasn't her name by the the sound of the pen.

 _Tap-tap tap. Tap. tap-tap._ Pause. _Tap-tap tap tap-tap tap. Tap tap-tap. Tap tap tap-tap. Tap-tap tap. Tap tap tap tap. Tap-tap._

Then the tapping stopped and she began writing. It wasn't until about ten minutes later that the confused thoughts of the genin in the room began to switch to annoyed mental face-palming.

" _Of course, I get it now...I have to cheat…"_

" _That guy seems to have it down...I'll cheat off him…"_

One of the sentries close to her caught her attention as he studied her, though. " _That tapping...it sounded like morse code. Tap-tap tap...Cheat but don't get caught...that's what she said. Wow, she's quicker to catch up on things than the others. How old is she?"_

Just to freak him out, she smirked and began tapping again.

Tap tap. Tap tap-tap. Tap-tap tap-tap. Tap-tap tap-tap tap-tap tap-tap tap.

She smirked even wider as the man's thoughts and heart beat quickened.

" _Sh-she answered my question?! But how did she know what I was thinking?! Nine...she's only nine...What's her name again?"_

Tap tap tap-tap. Tap-tap tap tap-tap. Tap-tap tap. Tap-tap tap-tap tap-tap. Tap tap-tap tap-tap. Which translated to "U know already."

She held back a laugh as the man freaked out mentally. She always loved messing with people. Making them break was always the most fun, but Jiejie always stopped her before she could destroy somebody's mind.

" _Nuji, I know what you're doing. Stop it."_

She tapped out "Fine" with her pencil, confusing the sentry slightly.

She listened to the other genin in room as the began cheating off others. Nuji, who flipped over her paper so nobody would steal her answers, heard a boy next to her get sand in his eyes. Somebody a few rows back got possessed by another genin. The sound ninja could listen to the frequency of the sound waves of a pen scratch and figure out the answer. One used mirrors and some just looked at other's papers.

It didn't take long after everybody figured out they needed to cheat that people began getting written down. Except for one. While people were getting kicked out and others were finishing, there was one boy who was still stressed out.  
"Naruto Uzumaki…" She whispered as she continued with her listening. The people who'd been sitting next to her were both gone, caught and thrown out.

Jiejie seemed to be enjoying this. She was playing with the thoughts of others. With her hands under the desk, she cast her secret mind lock jutsu. With one hand staying under the table to keep the jutsu in place, she picked up her pencil and began writing in what she saw in the other genin's eyes. She was done within moments, leaving her victim to faint over her test.

Gege, however, decided to use his ink thief jutsu, one he'd taught himself as a kid for fun. He did the hand signs under the table, just like his sister, then closed his eyes. The kid in front of him was almost done, only for the ink to fade and disappear. The writing reappeared on Gege's page. Gege, that unexpressive boy didn't even let out a smile as the kid in front of him began searching for the missing words.

Not that he'd ever find them.

All the while, Naruto was still freaking out over the test.

" _No no no! This isn't good! I'm almost out of time!"_

It was actually quite funny when Naruto almost got hit by by a kunai. Naruto didn't try to cheat after that. Hehehe.

Soon, the last question came out and Naruto seemed to rely on it to pass. It's clear that Nuji had a strange interest in the boy and Gaara. They were different from the others...familiar in a way…


	3. Chapter 3

"Listen up. Here's the tenth and final question."

" _Yes! We're almost done!"_

" _So close...can't get caught, I think I've been written down already…"_

" _I wonder if it'll be more difficult than the others…"_

" _Here we go...everything's riding on this one...believe it!"  
_ Then there was the prompter. " _I bet I'll get them with this one...I need to get rid of at least a few more or she'll have my hide…"_

"But, before we get going, there's a few more rules we have to go over."

The poor sand village dude walked in and everybody turned to him. Hehehe…

"These rules are unique to question ten, so listen up...and try not to let them frighten you."

Tap tap tap. Tap-tap. Tap tap-tap. Tap-tap tap tap-tap tap-tap. Tap tap-tap tap-tap tap. Tap tap tap-tap. Tap-tap.

Her taps translated to "stay put."

Then Nuji had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing as the prompter began thinking about how much fun he was having tormenting the genin.

" _If even the rules are scary...what's the question?"_

"Very well then, rule number one! Each of you are free to choose not to be given the final question. It's your decision."

One of Gaara's comrades shouted out what she was thinking unlike everybody else. "Wow! So what's the catch?! What if we decide not to take it, what happens then?!"

"If you decide not to take the tenth question, regardless to your answers of the other nine, you'll get a zero." He smirked as he stared at the outspoken girl. "In other words, you fail. And that means, of course, your teammates fail as well."

There was murmuring around the room. They weren't going to back out because it said their teammates would have to leave as well.

"Not so fast, you didn't let me finish."

" _More rules? Enough already!"_

"If you accept the question but answer it incorrectly, you will not only fail...but you will be barred from taking the chunin exams ever again!"

"Hey that's bull man! That's boggis! What kind of ridiculous rule is that! There's lots of people here that have taken the test before!" The rookie that stood up seemed furious, and the puppy on his head barked in agreement.

For a dog, that animal had some very human-like thoughts...including a not-so-clean mouth.

The prompter just laughed, but Nuji and her partners had lost interest. His attempts at scaring them hadn't worked, though the rest of the room seemed worried.

Soon, about half of them were raising their hands to leave. Surprisingly, none of the rookies left. Nobody from the leaf village. Naruto seemed torn between staying and going. Some weird dude was the first to go.

" _Go on Naruto, it's alright. Raise your hand, don't worry about us…"_ Sakura began thinking about a memory...Naruto wanted to be Hokage, no matter what he was going to achieve his dream.

And he slowly did…shakily but still.

And Nuji looked up and back as he did, feeling the surprise in many of the rookie's minds. And she sat, and she listened as Naruto acted tough and called them out. He said some interesting things then. Despite the sentinels and the prompter seemingly unenthused by his words, their thoughts said the exact opposite, as did most of those left in the room. Nobody else raised their hand.

" _Remarkable...that little outburst has given the others a little backbone. He's inspired them to stay…78 left, a little more than I expected… But I don't see anyone wavering. I think that's it…"_

"Well then, I admire your determination if nothing else. For those of you left, there's only one thing left to do...and that's for me to tell you...that you've all passed the first exam."

As some of them stared at him in astonishment, Nuji began laughing behind her hands. She buried her face into her elbows as some of the sentinels stared at her. In fact, even the prompter seemed to think they were all funny too. He explained how the test was to see how well they would function under pressure. The test was impossible and encouraged cheating.

The thoughts left the test quickly as the prompter took off his headband to show… actually, I'd rather not say. It's kind of gross…

He wished them all good luck, sending Naruto into celebrations. Just as he finished, another prompter flew through the window, throwing kunai at the ceiling and hanging a banner as she landed. Nuji let out a laugh and applauded, earning a few strange looks but a grin from the woman.

"Let's go, follow me!" She just got a few strange looks and Obiki peeked around the banner at her.

"You're early...again."

" _Great. A screaming nutcase, reminds me of Naruto."_

" _What the hell is going on?"_

" _I wonder if I should be worried…"_

The woman seemed embarrassed at first but then began looking around the room. "How many are there? Obiki...you let all these guys pass? Your test was to easy. You're going soft."

"Or it could be a stronger crop of candidates this year."

"Hmm. They don't look it. Trust me, when I'm through with them, more than half will be eliminated. This is gonna be fun. You maggots have had it easy so far, but things are going to be different first thing in the morning. Dismissed…"

Nuji began to like this prompter. She was...different.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Somebody just asked me to write more, so here you go.**_

That night Nuji and her team trained in the forest, their sensei sitting against the tree and judging them with her eyes. She was a tall and slender woman. She had dark brown hair and eyes that matched. Her hair was medium length and braided with her headband keeping her bangs out of her eyes. She was scary and not nice to the kids. She often paired up the twins to spar then she would battle with Nuji.

By the time training was finished around nightfall, Nuji was bruised and battered, her ankles were bleeding because of the weights and her wrist was broken again. Not that the others cared, she'd be healed by morning anyways.

Jiejie wrapped the youngest's wrist with the gauze she always kept in her bag. Nuji smiled then ran off through the streets of the Leaf Village, ignoring the yells from her sensei. She took a sharp corner and ran smack into a sand village ninja.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" The female said as she glared down at the girl. Nuji cradled her wrist against her chest as she stood up and brushed off the dirt from her back.

"Sorry ma'am!" She smiled to them, feeling the shift in their moods when they noticed her bloody, bare feet and ankles.

"Say, why are you weighed down that way? I mean, ankle weights are one thing, but these are used for prisoners."

She wanted so badly to tell them that's exactly why she had them on. She's a prisoner, nothing more. A monster that must be contained. A tool for the military.

That's all.

Instead her smile faltered for a moment and she began tapping her fingers against her leg. She decided to change the subject, not wanting to admit to the embarrassing truth that she was no more than a rich man's slave. "I heard there's an awesome ramen place in this village, would you like some? I could pay if you'd like."

"Well...I'm not sure…" The boy with...a puppet?...scratched his head and looked to his sister. The boy in the middle of them just stared at Nuji, his eye twitching as he tried to come up with a theory of what she was.

" _She's strange...I sense something powerful but solemn in her. She's smiling though...how could she be so sad and still be happy? Must be..."_

"It's not that complicated." Gaara's eyes widened and Nuji realized what she'd done. The other two just seemed confused.

"Um...it's a yes or no question, I mean. It's either you do want to go and get romen paid for by me, or no. It's simple and I'd appreciate it if you told me now because my sensei doesn't like it when I converse with ninja from other villages without her knowing."

"Your sensei seems kinda mean," the puppet master matched his sister's pose without knowing. His hand on one hip and he waved his hand around as he spoke to emphasize what he was saying.

"Um...So was that a yes or no, my team will be catching up soon."

"Yeah, sure." The girl spoke up and held her hand out. "I'm Temari by the way. And this is-"

"Gaara and Kankuro, yeah, I know."

"H-how? Your blind, you can't even see who we are."

"I can smell you. And one tails here has another mind filling his skull. I can hear Shukaku banging around in your head. No wonder you can't sleep."

The three ninja stepped away, causing Nuji to stop smiling. She stepped away as well, holding out her hands in surrender.

"My apologies, I see I should've kept my mouth shut. I can see dinner is off as well, I'm just going to go myself."

She turned and walked away as they stared wide eyes and hanging jaws.

She soon came to the ramen shop and sat alone. A boy soon entered. Naruto. He grinned at the store keeper and ordered without using a menu. Nuji asked for the same thing, just to make it easier.

"Hey, I'm Naruto Uzumaki!"

"Hello, I'm Nuji Emoxun. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Nine tails.

"So you must be here for the chunin exams! Oh, wait, I remember you! You jumped in front Kabuto when those sound ninja attacked him!"

"Um...so, you have any interesting places in this village that I should visit?"

"Well, you've seen the Kages carved into the side of the cliff haven't you?"

Nuji couldn't help but giggle. He scarfed down his second bowl as her giggling grew into a laughter like that of a child. I guess she is a child, actually, even if she was more mature than others took her for.

"Hey, what's so funny?!"

She pulled her headband up a little to show him her empty sockets. "No, I haven't seen it, sorry." And she began laughing again as Naruto stared at her.

"Well, I want to take you to them anyways!" She drank the broth of her bowl and they both had another bowl before Naruto took her hand, yelling back to put it on his tab. "Come on!"

Nuji gripped his hand tighter as he pulled her through the village and over the rooftops toward to the landmark. They soon came to it, standing on a house near the base.

"Naruto...would you describe the Hokage's to me?"

Naruto slowly smiled and sat down. For hours, the two kids sat on the roof as Naruto told the stories of the great Hokages. He told about how the first created the village, the second worked to keep the piece, and the fourth died to save it.

Naruto told about his adventures then. His missions. His friends. As the sun sank low, he asked about Nuji many times, but never got any answers other than "You're more interesting" and "You don't want to know that". Eventually, he got annoyed slightly.

"Come on! I've told you all about me, the least you can do is tell me where you're from! I've never heard of your village, it's about as mysterious as the sound."

"My village is hidden in a small valley in the mountains. It's hidden and only accessible through a large hole that was blasted through one of the mountains by a-" demon "-very angry enemy."

"Oh. But what about your eyes? That must be a very cool story!"

"No...no it's not."

Nuji stared at the ground as Naruto seemed to understand and drop it. He went back to watching the stars and admiring the hokages.


	5. Chapter 5

The next day the teams stood by the gate as soon as the sun was high. With smiles on the twins and Nuji's face, they awaited the directions. They were side- tracked, though, when three kids came for interviews.

Nuji giggled as Naruto was chased around by the children's terrible disguise. For an hour or so the kids talked with the genin from the leaf and the prompter. Nuji busied herself by drawing in the earth with a stick, even without sight she was able to draw what looked like a cat with two tails. It was giant, monstrous, but beautiful in it's own way. With Jiejie and Gege off to talk with somebody else, Nuji was left alone to draw. While drawing, the sand ninja came near.

"What is that." Gaara, I must admit he had a special power. He was able to take a question and turn it into a statement.

"It is Nekomata, the two tails."

"Why are you drawing that here? Do you want everyone here to know you're a jinjuriki?" Temari glanced around, as if expecting anyone to be looking over her shoulder at it. She quickly kicked the drawing away.

"If somebody knows, then maybe they can help me."

"What are you talking about?" Kankuro stared at the child strangely. The eyes, full of confusion, was met with a smile.

"I'm not allowed to say, Sensei would be mad. My comrades are the only reason I'm alive. That's all I can say."

She went back to drawing, only this time it was slightly different. She started with buildings that were on fire. A demon was drawn in the middle of it, and there was a symbol drawn directly below it.

"Nekomata was the only one kind to me when I was in solitude. She was nice to me, helped me when I was hurt, and sang me to sleep when my wounds were too much to handle."

"W-what?" Kankuro stared at the girl like she was a plague.

"It's sad, isn't it, when a demon takes pity on somebody before a human does?" She smiled up at them as they finally connected the dots. The chains, the wounds...the missing eyes.

" _What the hell happened to this child?"_ Temari stared at her with her mouth open.

" _Just like Gaara…"_ Kankuro looked at his feet.

Gaara, unlike his comrades, controlled his thoughts. He remembered she could read his mind, therefore he emptied it. They watched as she destroyed her drawing, then began writing in the sand.

 _Save me from my Sensei._

That's when her teammates returned and saw the message. Gege looked around as Jiejie destroyed it.

" _Did they have time to read it?"_

"Yes Jiejie."

" _Will they help you?"_

"Why don't you ask them yourself?"

But she didn't have the opportunity. The prompter began yelling for them all to gather, but Nuji instead began drawing a picture of her demon again. As the sand village ninja left, Jiejie and Gege just turned towards the prompter and listened as she spoke. She hummed as she drew, listening but not listening to everything.

I smiled within her as she drew a picture of me again. Wow, she draws really well for somebody who's never been allowed to see. My jinjuriki was so talented.

 _You should be paying attention to the prompter._

"Nah, I don't need to, I can just ask Jiejie or Gege later." Nuji whispered to herself as she continued.

 _You should put more emphasise on the tail. And no, that's a terrible idea! Wait until later to get the instructions? Don't be an idiot, listen to her._

"Fine, sorry." Nuji threw away the stick and stood up, squishing herself in between her comrades. She grinned up at Jiejie and took their hands in her own. "Are we ready?"

"Yes." The twins sad together.

And so they went to wait in line to exchange their papers for scrolls. When it was their turn, they gave it to Nuji to hold in her shoulder bag. Nobody would think the youngest had it. The three walked out grinning and continued on to take their position at a gate.

Then they waited.

And waited.

And waited until, finally, the gates were opened and Nuji took the lead as they ran into the forest.


	6. Chapter 6

"Woohoo!" The child cried as she jumped high and ran ahead of her companions.  
"Nuji! Wait up!" Jiejie struggled to keep up, while Gege had a book out as he ran. He flipped the page as he ran on, unknowingly aggravating his sister. She nearly fell as she ran on.

"Come on slow pokes! Come on come on come on! It's been so long since I've been allowed to do this! Yahoo!"

Suddenly what looked like an arm of sand hit Nuji, throwing her into a tree. She slid to the ground, unable to stop the fall because of the weights on her legs.

"Nuji!" The twins jumped to her side as the sand ninja stood by. Gaara had his arms crossed as he stared at them with a blank face.

Gege stood in front of his sisters as Jiejie helped the youngest to her feet. Despite the re-broken wrist, she still smiled slightly.

" _I hope they've got a heaven scroll."_

"This battle is pointless, friends, we've both got earth scrolls."

"We aren't your friends." Gaara stared at her as he spoke. He wouldn't meet the eyes of the twins.

"Hey, how do you know we have an earth scroll?!" Kankuro pointed at Nuji as he asked (more like yelled) the question.

The youngest just dug the scroll out of her pocket and showed them.

But that didn't stop Gaara from attacking them. It was Gege first. His legs became stuck and he threw his necklace to his sisters before becoming completely covered.

"Sand coffin."

"Brother!" Nuji screamed for him as jiejie froze from a mix of fear and grief. With tears in her eyes and his key against her's, the sand wrapped around her legs.

In an attempt to save her sister, Nuji pulled a kunai out to attacked the sand ninja.

"Sand coffin."

She hadn't even moved as the mix of blood covered her. She screamed out in anguish, a sound that was mixed with my power. As she fell to her knees, a wave of her grief went through the land surrounding. It killed every plant and animal accept the humans. Gaara's sand protected him, but his companions fell to their knees, coughing and throwing up but not passing out like I expected.

By the time the three had the strength to look for Nuji, she was already gone. Her weights were lying where she had once fallen to her knees.

And slowly, as my Jinjuriki fell deeper and deeper into anguish, she began to lose control over me. She wanted revenge, as she had for a long time. She wanted to destroy the humans for what they had all done to her.

Her cloak became brighter and brighter as she ran through the trees. Until she came a team. She grinned as she threw her headband away. And then she killed them. She felt remorse deep within her mind, but did not show it when she ripped the eyes out of her victims. She somehow managed to transplant them within herself without any medical ninjutsu. Must be because of me, you think?

Who cares.

She continued on. She found another team, but this time did not kill them all. Instead, she left one. The worst torture she could have imagined. She killed the boy's teammates, but left him to deal with the guilt of failing his friends and then have to return home and tell everybody.

The worst torture she could have imagined.

And then she went on to destroy six more teams before calming down in the face of the last one. She did not kill this team, she merely walked into the clearing and smiled at them.

"Hello! My name's Nuji! I've become separated from my team, have you by any chance seen them?"

"Um, probably not. What did they look like?"

"Well...they sorta looked like you two actually. Except my brother was the one with the black hair and my sister was the blond." She pointed to a girl with black hair who was wearing and black. The blond boy was slightly taller than her but shorter than the brown haired team leader.

"Um, when was the last time you saw them?"

Her grin grew wider, her teeth sharpening to points as she gave the three a maniacal smile.  
"The last time I saw them was as they were crushed to death."

Before the team knew what happened, she slit the leaders throat and knocked out the blond and black haired ones. "Puppets…" Just like Kankuro. It's sad, isn't it, when a child seeks revenge on humanity for the cruelty she had to endure.

And yet, she had still smiled innocently until now.

As she came to the tower her bag was overflowing with scrolls and she was grinning wide. Her bloodshot eyes were sky blue and green and her headband was tied loosely around her neck. The chains that were once around her ankles were gone, replaced by blood that spotted her clothing.

Following close behind were her brother and sister, though Jiejie didn't smile and Gege wasn't reading his book. The twins both stared ahead with blank eyes and unified movements. Not even when Nuji opened the scrolls and a man was summoned did they blink.

When they walked through the halls to find a place to sit, Nuji turned and stared at the camera and grinned wider. She began laughing as she followed after her new companions.

And soon they came across the sand, but they were greeted with the usual glance and grin of the child as she held her companion's hands and walked passed the astonished sand ninja.

And about four days later when the last ninja came, she stood in the line. She stared at her startled sensei and grinned with sharp teeth, excited for the next challenge. Nine teams passed, and five people quite right then and there.

They were told that, before the next challenge, they would have a sort of duel. Nuji had the fake twins give up and leave so that they wouldn't distract her. As everybody watched, they left the room, then go into the bathroom. She was going to have them kill each other, but I convinced her to just leave them on the stall floors passed out from exhaustion. The ninjutsu would leave them looking like the twins until she either died or released it, though.

"First off, Sasuke and-"

As usual, Nuji lost interest and began carving into the floor with her kunai after she found a spot to sit.


	7. Chapter 7

"Next up...Nuji Exomun and Xuan Shou!"

 _Go easy on him, Nuji, he's just a kid._

It was the only boy left on his team, because his companions had quit. Nuji grinned and jumped over the railing, standing near the prompter within seconds.

"Come on slow poke!"

The boy seemed to be from the Rain. He was smirking as he got into his stance. Nuji only grinned back wider, her eyes wild.

"Forfeit or die."

"I could say the same to you," was all he answered.

"Ready?" The prompter took a moment to cough. "Go."

Xuan didn't waste a moment and hit her with basically a jet of water. She didn't move though, she just stood there and grinned as the boiling water raced over to her.

 _God damn you, Nuji._

I used my chakra to lash out and create a makeshift shield that diverted the water. She continued grinning as the the boy ran around her, attacking her with water, kunai, and- finally- a smoke bomb.

The boy raced inside, attacking Nuji head on, and I stopped protecting her. The people in the stands heard a scream and leaned over the railing to see what had happened. As the smoke cleared, they saw Xuan lying soaked in blood at Nuji's feet. She had blood on her hand and a kunai stuck out of the boy's chest and shoulders.

"It was fun, Xuan, but I wish you would've forfeit. I suppose they could still save you, but I doubt they will."

She walked away to the stands, her grin gone and Xuan's blood still dripping off. Everybody was staring at her, and her Sensei was watching her with a look between disbelief and disgust.

And so my Jinjuriki returned to her spot and continued her drawing in the cement. Gaara was up next, and she found herself intrigued by his fight with Lee. Lee was quick, and all the rookies seemed so excited as they cheered for him. Why? Why would they cheer for him? He wasn't even on their team! Even still, Nuji found she was interested in the battle's outcome for once. She smiled again as Lee dropped a couple weights from his legs. It was an innocent smile, and she began cheering as well as Lee became quicker.

She wasn't cheering for Lee though, she was cheering for Gaara. She was mostly doing it to annoying the rookies though, but she felt Temari and Kankuro watching.

"Kick his ass Gaara!"

It wasn't until the end when Gaara almost killed Lee that she began to understand.

"Nekomata, is this the pain I've been causing others?"

 _Yes._

A tear slipped from her stolen eye as she watched Lee's sensei stand between an unconscious Lee and a furious Gaara.

"Then I won't do it anymore."

 _Good._

Then Lee began to stand up. "Guy", as the others were calling him, was furious with his student then realized the boy was unconscious yet still ready to fight. Gaara seemed to be racked with pain for a moment as Guy cried for his student. Gaara began walking away, and Lee eventually collapsed to the ground. As the medics came out, Naruto's sensei jumped down to stand beside Guy.

Then the a medic looked up at Guy and shook his head.

Then suddenly Nuji stood beside them. "Is he dead?"

Guy's weeps told us the answer.

"You guys know you can just restart his heart, right? I mean, his heart stopped because of the sudden shock, not because there was a problem with it." She turned to Naruto's sensei. "You. You're a lightning style right?"

He seemed a little nervous but nodded.

"Put just enough of your chakra in your palm that it sparks." She grabbed his wrist as he did so then put it against Lee's chest. His body arched but he coughed a little and began to breath again.

"H-how did you know to do that?" One of the medics stared at her for a moment.

"I'm not an idiot, that's how." She left them after that, jumping back over the railing despite the height. "Now can we continue!"

She sat and began on her drawing again as the medics carried Lee away on a stretcher.


	8. Chapter 8

When it was over, basically only the rookies from the leaf were still up. Naruto seemed to have caught Nuji's eye even more than Gaara. Then there was Sasuke, who had managed to win despite the obvious pain he was in.

I wonder what was wrong with him…not that it it matters.

At the end, the genin were given a month to train and ready themselves for the next test. The next test would be them battling each other in an arena with people watching...and judging...and most definitely betting on the winners. Those damn rich people thought the most important thing about these exams were to win bets.

"I quit!" Nuji yelled down as the prompter said her name, stating that she would continue on. Many people stared at her in confusion and surprise, except for her sensei, she just looked furious and scary. Mostly scary.

"What!? Why!? You did great, you could totally win!" Naruto leaned over the bar just enough that he could yell at Nuji.

"He's right Nuji! What the hell do you think you're doing?" Her sensei screamed as well, even though it was an unspoken rule that the senseis did not interfere with their students decisions.

"I can't, I'm sorry. The truth is, my comrades both died in the forest. I've been cheating, and the guilt's eating away at me."

 _What a dirty lie._

"What?" The prompter took a moment to cough. "Then how did you get through?"

"I'm stronger than I look, sir. Please, would you just disqualify me?"

"Nuji Exomun, you are disqualified!" Cough cough. "If you would please exit."

She did as he asked silently, ignoring the strange looks they all gave me. We felt Gaara's eyes follow us, and the sensei's eyes glaring at her failure student. Her monster student.

The demon.

" _Freak. I bet it was you who killed those two. I thought you cared, I thought you loved them. They saved you, and you repay them by letting them die or taking their lives yourself. I know you can hear me freak. The village will never forgive you for the lose of those two."_

Nuji glared up at her sensei, freezing in place.

 _You need to ignore her, Nuji. Ignore her and move on, or the punishment will be worse._

But that damn woman made a terrible mistake, one that would cost young Nuji a lot more than you would expect.

"Leave Nuji. Do as asked, like I expected you to."

"Just say it sensei," Nuji spat through her teeth. Nobody else was telling her to leave. The prompter's cough was the only thing that filled the silence for a moment.

"You're a monster, Nuji, and we all expected this to happen one day. You killed your companions, didn't you? You monster. You killed the only people who ever cared for you just so you could escape those chains."

And that's when Nuji lost it. In front of everybody, all the genin and senseis and even the Hokage, she lost it. In a flash, she lept to the railing and slashed at her sensei with my chakra. My cloak of chakra covered her body within seconds and both of our anger towards the woman and the hidden mountain pass was released. The woman didn't even have time for hand signs before my Jinjuriki ripped through her body with my claws. My blue claws.

She'd lost complete control.

The Hokage ordered the genin to be evacuated and for the jonin to stay and help subdue me. Nuji lost control soon after killing the woman and I was free to roam if not for a little while. But I didn't want to destroy anything, why would I? All I wanted to do was see the sun for myself but whatever.

I retreated back into Nuji, leaving her to fall backwards over the railing. I was relieved when she was caught, but not so much when everything went completely black and I couldn't tell where they would take her.

 _ **~Time skip to about a day later. Also, I'm going to tell this from Nuji's POV for a little while~**_

"She's waking up," I heard someone whisper.

"Hey, wake up," somebody else began slapping my cheek lightly to wake me up. The voice sounded familiar, but I couldn't put a face to the voice. I opened my eyes, but I was blindfolded. Then I realized I was tied to a chair. Ugh, my nose was itchy.

"Could you scratch my nose for me? I can't scratch it." To my surprise, he actually did. "Oh! I recognize your voice now. You're Obiki aren't you? You were the prompter for the first test."

"Yes, you are correct."

"Wait... you're an interrogator?"

"Were you not paying attention?"

"No, not at all. That's what my siblings are fo-" my smile disappeared as a few memories hit me. "Were. That's what they were for."

"What happened to them?"

"Um...well...they died...It was sort of an accident, we fell into a sort of trap I think. Gege died first, trying to slow down the enemy, then Jiejie died doing the same. I was unable to run though, because I was scared." I felt some tears form, but...but… "Ninja aren't supposed to cry, right?"

"Yes," his voice was calm. It was filled with sorrow though, sadness as deep as mine.

"So why did they make me a ninja so young? I'm not allowed to cry, but I want to so badly." I felt him untie my blindfold. I stared into my eyes as he knelt in front of me to be at my height. We were the only ones in there except for another man by the door. They were blurred slightly by the tears that had began to flow because the blindfold no longer restrained them.

"Then cry. Cry until you can't cry anymore. We'll wait, and then we'll continue with the questions."I just stared at him with frightened and wide eyes for a few minutes as the tears covered my cheeks. A bit of snot joined the tears. Gross.

Eventually the tears and sobs stopped after I'd finally mourned for my siblings. The only people who stuck by my side despite everything. I looked up at Obiki again with sad eyes and nodded for him to start the interrogation.

"I need to know if you've ever heard of somebody named Orochimaru."

I stared at him blankly for a moment as I went through all the names I knew. "I don't know the name...is he from the Hidden Mountain Pass?"

"No he's from here. I believe you're telling the truth about knowing him, but I need to know who you do work for."

"I- well I- I don't really _work_ for anyone." I shuffled in my chair a little awkwardly and looked away. I couldn't look at him, what was he going to think? Should I tell him? I can't, but I've got to...right?

"What do you mean?"

"Well... I'm sort of…" Do I tell him? I can't lie...and he'll probably get curious or upset if I don't tell him now…

"Nuji. You need to tell me." His face made me flinch. I swear, it was like his scarred face was mentally slapping me.

"I'm a slave." He blinked twice, but showed no surprise like I wish I could say I thought he would show. He is a ninja after all, he's not supposed to show emotion, especially not one that would show weakness.

"Who is your owner then."

"Well, it was my sensei and her husband, who is sort of like a feudal lord of our village, except he's not a wimp and was a ninja. They've been thinking of selling me though, since I'm not of much use anymore. I'm really too young to be a ninja, and the crops are growing well now thanks to my powers."

"And do you know who it was planning on buying you?"

"I'm a slave, Obiki, I'm not even told when to cook dinner. Why would you think I'd know who my future master might be?" Well...I guess… "They never told me his name to be honest, but I might have met him."

I'm pretty sure slavery is illegal in most of the world, and frowned upon by everyone else, especially when it comes to children. Why does he seem so calm with all this.

"Could you describe him to me?" He pulled a notebook out of seeming nowhere.

"Well...he's sort of hard to describe. I think it was a man, at least. If it wasn't for the...raspy...voice then I would've thought it was a girl. And, um, he had dark hair and...gold eyes."

Obiki let out a sigh as he facepalmed and shook head. He looked back at me. "You met Orochimaru. You need to tell me exactly what he said."

"Um, okay, but may I ask why he is so important?"

"I'm sorry, but that's sort of a secret."

"Oh. I'm not good at keeping secrets, so I suppose it's a good thing you didn't tell me. Anyways, it's a long story so you might want to get comfortable."


	9. Chapter 9

_**~Flashback-thing-a-majig~**_

 _So, I was walking home from the corn fields during this last harvest, covered in dirt and sweat. I decided there was time to go to the stream and bathe since it was only a little past three. I mean, we'd done most of the work already so we'd just been cleaning up the mess from the day before._

 _So, I was just having some fun on and in the water. Yes, I also said on. Nekomata taught me from our five to control my chakra. When I was seven I could climb trees, Only a few months after that I could walk on water. So, that day, I undressed to only my underwear and the bandages wrapped around my chest and back to keep an old punishment from covering my clothes in blood. I walked to the center and allowed myself to fall in. The sudden cold water felt good in the heat and swam in the water for a while. When I surfaced, that person- Orochimaru- was at the shore, folding my clothes and setting them on a stone beside him._

" _Can I help you with something?" I asked the man. He turned to me and gave me a grin._

" _Hello, you must be Nuji."_

" _Y-yeah, why do you ask? Are you a buyer? I wish you would've caught me at home, I would've been dressed properly and could greet you properly."  
_ " _It's fine, child. And I am only a potential buyer."_

" _Oh, I'm sorry. I look a lot better when I'm not bathing. That...sounded a lot different than what I imagined it would."_

 _The man just chuckled. His laugh was like a snake...I can't explain it, it just made me smile back despite the aching in my body from my punishments and work. I could feel some of the scabs peeling off. I looked into the water behind me, it had a red tint to it, as if someone had poured ink into the water._

" _Are you alright child?"_

" _Yeah, I just...would you help me dress my back with new wrappings? I have gauze in my shoulder bag."_

 _He agreed, and I slowly made my way to the bank, sitting at his feet, my back to him. I could feel the warm blood on my back now as it soaked the wrappings to the point that the front was just a red as the wounds. He didn't take time to unwrap the bandages, he just cut them off and slowly peeled them from the wound. Pieces of skin and and flesh peeled with it. I flinched slightly._

" _Sorry, I never have time to dress the wound and I actually had to steal that gauze."_

" _It's not your fault, child. I can't imagine what you could've done to deserve this." I turned slightly to look at him. His face held a strange sorrow in it._

" _I don't...why do care? You don't own me, and even if you did you would probably treat me just as bad if you knew what I was."_

" _What? What are you?" It sounded like he was pulling some stuff out of his bag as he spoke._

" _If you buy me I'll tell you."_

" _Hmm...maybe I will. And I promise not to whip you like these people did if you behave."_

" _B-but I do behave! It's not my fault I'm a monster! If they didn't want a monster then they shouldn't have bought me."_

" _So you're not from here?" It sounded like he was mixing the stuff now, stopping ever once in awhile to wipe away some blood._

" _Oh gods no! I'm not even from this land! If they were telling the truth, my mother had me in the land of waves in a small village. My story's a strange one, and I'll tell you it when you own me. Every about two year I'm sold to a new village, and then my story gets more interesting. My story is also in a book that I started last year, but I'm stumped because there's a few months missing of my life after my master gave me a concussion."_

 _He put a little bit of whatever he'd made on his hand and wiped it over one of my various cuts. I flinched away from the suddenly cold and painful hand.  
_ " _Wh-what is that?"_

" _It's just an ointment that'll help ease you pain and help with the healing."_

" _I-it kind of hurts."_

" _Perhaps, but you've obviously had a lot worse."_

" _I suppose."_

 _I composed myself and began talking to him. I asked his name, but he just stated that his name was not of importance to me. I asked how he knew how to make the ointment, and he just said it was knowledge that most people should know, and he went on to tell me how to make it. After redressing my back, he had to say goodbye. I'll admit I was a little sad to see him go after he was nice to me unlike most people. I never saw him again after that, but I imagine he's off doing something interesting._


	10. Chapter 10

_**It's gonna be in Nuji's POV for this chapter because I wrote most of the chapter before realizing the mistake.**_

A letter was sent to the Hidden Pass Village and we awaited a message back. We waited and waited and I was given a room in a hotel while under guard 24/7. The estimated time for a letter to take to my village is about two days at worst. I waited a week for a letter to return.

While waiting, I stayed in the hotel the entire time, only leaving twice to go to the springs and because a vendor on the street was selling BBQ and it smelled really good. The Anbu left food outside my door every morning, which were my three meals for the day. Sometimes I would leave a note on the door, asking for new reading material, then I would sit on the ceiling and read.

Because, I mean, why not?

One night, I got sick of the small room, and sent out a clone to jump out the window and walk around the streets. I was excited when it actually worked and I felt the presence of one of the Anbu leave.

Another stayed rooted though, so I created another clone and gave it half my chakra. I ran out the door this time, leaving my clone to laugh at in the living room. The Anbu guy didn't follow me, so I just continued walking and running until I was at a park. I knew my clone had long since disappeared, so I just sat on the swings, playing and waiting for the Ambu to come frantically looking for me.

I mean, it's not like they could punish me, they had no right.

I was swinging for hours, then playing on the slide, then making a fort out of sticks...then setting it on fire. Then I went back on the slide and fell asleep at the bottom of it, staring up at the sky. I woke up when somebody poked my cheek. I stared up at a masked man.

"Anbu Black Opps? Wow, you guys took forever to find me." I grinned up at him a little. He didn't react except to take my arm and pull me up.

"Are you injured?"

"I...I don't understand. I thought you'd be angry. Weren't you supposed to guard me? To make sure I didn't try to leave the village?"

"You misunderstand, we were told to ensure you were safe and well-guarded because you are a target." He began pulling me along by my hand.

"Why would somebody target a slave? If they wanted me they could just talk to my owner. If they wanted me dead, then they'd kill me. If they wanted me alive they honestly just have to ask and I'll most likely say yes."

He stopped and turned to me. He didn't seem like Anbu, he was talking to much. "Is that right?"

"Well, yeah," I said. We began walking again, except his grip was looser and it was more like he was holding my hand than he was pulling me along. I wonder...is that what it's like for a father and a daughter?

As we walked back to the inn, we rounded a corner, coming face to face with the sand village ninja. I looked up from the ground at them and smiled.

 _Have you forgotten what they did already?_ My demon whispered to me from the back of my mind.

"It's a beautiful day, is it not?" I smiled at them. The Anbu guy just stood there, not saying a word as he held my hand.

"I-it is." Kankuro stared at me, then my hand, then to his sister.

"I'm surprised you're still here, Nuji. I was sure they'd ship you off as soon as they could." Tamari's face was blank, but not as blank as Gaara's, who seemed uninterested. His mind said otherwise though.

"I suppose they tried. They sent a couple letters to my village, telling them what I'd done, but we've gotten no response. I suspect they are either so embarrassed they are hoping the leaf will get annoyed and just kill me, or they've been destroyed."

"Why would they want you dead?" Gaara and his weird voice. It's as if he's saying "why the hell would they want you dead" while also saying "this matter doesn't concern me, hurry so I can leave". I love his voice.

"They've gotten tired of having a monster in their village, but they can't sell me because it's technically illegal in most places."

"You're a-a slave!?" Kankuro looked both surprised and disgusted. Disgusted, I hope, from the thought of somebody owning another person and not because I just told him I'm a monster.

"Um...yeah. Why? I thought it was a little obvious with the chains and the fact that I practically told you guys that my sensei beat me and broke my wrist."

"We didn't really...think about it."

 _I did._ Gaara's thoughts were controlled, but I could hear in the back of his mind where nobody else except one tails and he could go. _But why...she's just a child. She's even younger than me, yet she's smiling. I killed her brother and sister, why does she make talk with us?_

 _I don't understand._

I gave Gaara a small smile, then said goodbye. Me and the Anbu guy continued on, walking to the inn through the streets that were just beginning to hold people. I smiled at my Anbu guy and stepped into my room, heading to my small stack of books and sitting on the ceiling with a pen and a piece of paper.

 _Dear Gaara of the Sand,_

 _I know I must confuse you, but it will not last long. I loved my brother and sister, and if I could go back I would've done anything to stop you. But life does not last forever, and someday I will see them again to give them a hug, cry in their shoulders, and apologize for being too weak to save them. I hope they'll forgive me, but it's truly unlikely. Why would they? I'm a freak and a monster, but they cared for me when nobody else would._

 _This letter may seem useless, you may have thrown it away already even, but I hope you've continued reading. You see, Gaara, you are not a monster. I don't want you to think you are, because you never will be. You can change, even if you don't believe it...even if others don't believe it. I believe in you._

 _Sincerely, Nuji Exomun._


	11. Chapter 11

I held onto the letter and decided to wait until just before I leave and ask the Hokage to give it to Gaara after the Exams.

Because we didn't get a return letter after a week, the Hokage chose a few people to escort me back to the Hidden Pass. One of them was the Ambu guy who had brought me back from the park when I'd run off. I was told I could call him Yunshu. As we traveled, I struggled to keep myself from running ahead of them. When we came to a river, we stopped for a short rest, though they didn't seem very tired.

"So, are we following the river or will we just cross it?" I asked as the break ended and I stood at the edge of the water.

"I'll create an earth style bridge so you can cross."

"You guys make everything so difficult." I giggled a little and began walking across the water. I turned, expecting an astonished face but being reminded they wore masks. "Let's play a game! You're it!" I tagged Yunshu and began running across the water. They didn't tell me to wait, in fact they played along. Yunshu tagged the other guy, the guide. His name was Zhinan, but I just called him Z. Z tagged the girl, Biao. She chased me through the forest. She never tagged me though.

"Don't go easy on me just because I'm a kid!"

"I'm not, you're just very quick. If I could use my jutsu then I would've gotten you by now!" She called after me as I ran.

"And if I could use mine then you'd never find me!"

I stopped in my tracks. Somebody stood in the path, his body hidden by a cloak. He was tall and fat, and I could see his smiling face under the hood.  
"Um...hello."

He grabbed my arm as the others caught up with me. I cried out as he lifted me up.

"You must be Nuji. You don't look like much, I wonder why he's so interested in you."

"Release her!" Biao demanded as they neared. The man began to smirk.

"Please, don't hurt them. Don't-"

I was caught off by the sound of somebody getting stabbed. It sorta sounded like...Shwap. Shwap. Two people fell to the with a thump. I should've known better.

I felt myself fall to the ground but couldn't move...and my vision began to blur…

I was so dark as the two men stood over me…

 _ **The chapter's so shorrrttttt… I've been a blocked with this story though. Sorry.**_


	12. Sorry

_**sorry, but I can't finish this. If you want to continue this you can. I don't know how exactly how to put things up for adoption though.**_


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